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The Republic of Finland this week impressed market participants with its ability to raise Eu5bn of six year money at a tight spread over Bunds at a time when many investors are looking to take profits on non-core government debt. As the head of sovereign debt at one bank explained: "One of the great challenges for Finland is how to get investor focus when you represent less than 2% of the euro government bond indices and you trade, in relative terms, quite rich to your peer group."

Freddie Mac successfully priced its three year Dutch auction on Friday, the first of its issues to be launched without league table credit for dealers. Although one trader told EuroWeek that the removal of league table value had made no discernible difference, Freddie Mac officials said that there was anecdotal evidence of greater investor participation in when-issued trading, something they had been trying to encourage. "That means that the dealers end up short," Freddie Mac said, "and come into the auction to cover their short, which is conducive to a better auction result."

Hewlett-Packard has added Bank of America Securities, Bear Stearns and ABN Amro to its $3 billion Euro-MTN programme.

HypoVereinsbank has increased the ceiling off its euro30 billion ($26.48 billion) debt issuance programme to euro50 billion. The issuer has also axed Natwest Global Financial Markets, HSBC, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter from its dealer panel. The dealers are replaced by ABN Amro, Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Barclays Capital and Nomura.

India Industrial Credit & Investment Corp of India has launched a $75m five year deal through arranger BA Asia.

Seven bidders for the Italian generation plant Elettrogen are waiting to hear who has won the auction. Energy Entel, which is selling off its three subsidiaries, and the Italian treasury have promised to announce the result by the end of May.

Jyske Bank has issued a euro20 million ($17.65 million) note that goes out to May 2024. It pays a final coupon of 7%, and is Jyske Bank's third note of the year. All have been in euro and all have maturities of 10 years or more.

The European leveraged loan market is again set to prove its capacity to absorb jumbo leveraged loans as lead arrangers and underwriters Barclays (global co-ordinator and joint bookrunner) and Deutsche Bank (joint bookrunner) prime the market for the launch of a Eu1.75bn senior facility backing the acquisition of Kappa Alpha Holding by Kappa Packaging. Following the Eu1.4bn LBO facility for Messer Griesheim, the Kappa deal will be the largest senior debt facility backing an equity house driven purchase in the European market.

Kommunekredit has closed a ¥500 million ($4.06 million) 20-year power-reverse dual-convertible trade. The bookrunner was Daiwa SBCM Europe. The trade is a Bermudan callable, non-call-one, callable thereafter every six months and it pays a final coupon of 4%. Kommunekredit has issued two yen trades this year, a US dollar and a euro trade. Eske Hansen, at the issuer's funding department, says: "We have not done this type of note for some time, but we would like to do more of this kind of trade in future. The price was very attractive."

Bond markets received a boost on Tuesday from the US Federal Reserve's latest 50bp cut in interest rates, sparking fresh supply from a host of corporate borrowers. Issuance on both sides of the Atlantic picked up after the Fed meeting as corporates hastened to take advantage of the cheaper borrowing available through the lower rates.

Kone Corp, the Finnish elevator and escalator company, has signed a Eu1bn EMTN programme via joint arrangers Nordea and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. The dealer group also includes ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Okobank and SEB Merchant Banking. The issuers under the programme will be Kone Holdings (Canada) Inc and Koné France SA. The programme will extend the options and maturities available to Kone beyond its euro commercial paper programme's limits.